How Did The Vietnam War Influence The Image Of The American Soldiers

The veterans returning from their tour in Vietnam was in some ways new territory to the American people. In the first years veterans returned from a war that was becoming increasingly unpopular and later the veterans returned home from the first war where America had not reached its objectives. The veterans were treated differently than previous veterans and a new sort of image arose of the veteran; he was no longer a soldier who had served his country proudly, helped a people in need and rid the world of evil, now the image of the veteran was that he was a man broken down by war, a man who had suffered from substance abuse and had mental problems, which made it impossible for him to live a normal life in American society or even in his own

They found no Vietcong forces in the village; the only people there were women, children, babies and old men, all unarmed. In a matter of four hours, the American forces killed, tortured and raped between 347 and 504 villagers. What made it all the more chilling was that the soldiers held breaks between the killing where they ate and smoked cigarettes, as they knew they were in no danger; there were no military aged Vietnamese men, the American soldiers were not fired upon, nothing could have pressed them to make the mistake of seeing the villagers as enemy forces. What did play a role in the decision of killing the villagers, apart from the feeling of wanting payback, was the belief that many American soldiers had that the Vietnamese were less than human and even considered animals. Furthermore, American soldiers increasingly felt that the South Vietnamese population did not appreciate the American presence and maybe even had a hostile attitude. This meant that the American soldiers also became more hostile towards the Vietnamese and quickly assumed that the villagers either helped the Vietcong or maybe even were